Police address crimes against women

POLICE officers from the Eastern Division have been reminded to put an end to violence against women and remain committed to the law and not be biased.

The remarks were made at the opening of the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre police training on gender, violence against women, human rights and legal issues at the Fiji Police Academy workshop in Suva yesterday.

Police Commander Eastern SSP Jekope Lako encouraged officers to take full advantage of what the FWCC had to offer and learn as much as they could.

SSP Lako said the numbers could be reduced even further and the training by the FWCC would provide the knowledge of how this could be achieved.

He also highlighted while crimes against women were on the decline, there was still a great number of reports against the conduct of police officers, especially when dealing with cases of violence against women.

He said this needed to stop and he was confident that this training would prepare officers to deal with such cases.

"I salute you for your effort in the decrease of offences involving women and children and we must not rest here in fighting against the perpetrators and must ensure they face the full brunt of the law," SSP Lako said.

SSP Lako reaffirmed the Fiji Police Force's commitment to working with the FWCC and stakeholders to end all forms of violence against women and children. The workshop, which is supported by the Australian Government's Aid Program, ends on Friday.